The Other Woman
by ReganX
Summary: Four years ago, Buffy made the biggest mistake of her life. Is it too late to take it back? Complete.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: **Since my name is not Joss Whedon, 'Buffy: The Vampire Slayer', 'Angel' and all the characters associated with both shows belong to someone who isn't me. I also don't own the storyline - that's taken from Elisabeth's 'The Other Woman' Challenge (details below), posted on the Chocolate Covered Strawberries Challenge Archive.

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**_The Other Woman Challenge._**__

_Buffy, after her union with Angel, became pregnant. After hiding it from everyone, she gives the baby to Angel when he leaves Sunndale. Years later, when she finally thinks it's time to go back for her child. Only, when she does go back to LA, she witnesses something, her child calling someone else "Mom"._

_**Requirements:**_

_-Buffy's feelings about seeing this._

_**Options:**_

_-The other woman can be anyone: Faith, Cordy, Fred, Nina, other.  
-The child can be almost any age  
-The child can be male or female._**__**

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Author's Note: To accommodate the timeline for this story, Angel didn't die at the end of Season Two and left early in Season Three, rather than after the finale. Unless stated otherwise, the subsequent events were the same. 

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**Prologue. __**

**_Los Angeles._**

Angel cradled the tiny bundle in his arms, touching the small, flowerlike face with awed fingers, marveling at the softness of the silky wisps of dark hair on the delicate skull.

"She's beautiful." His voice was barely above a whisper.

The baby yawned widely, displaying her toothless gums, opening her blue eyes for a brief instant before drowsing off in her father's arms, completely at peace with the world around her.

"Do you want to hold her?"

The young woman in the bed shook her head firmly, fixing her gaze on the window, refusing to allow herself a glimpse of the newborn.

"Buffy, please, just look at her. She's beautiful. She has your eyes."

"Don't." The Slayer's voice was as hard as iron. "Don't tell me about her. I don't want to know. You shouldn't have told me what it was. It'll just make it harder."

"Don't do this, Buffy, please." Angel spoke in a low voice. "This is something you're going to end up regretting, I know you."

"I can't." Buffy sounded tired. "I'm seventeen, Angel, I'm not ready to have a baby. Besides, I'm a Slayer. I can't be a mother too."

"Buffy . . ."

"Stop!" Her eyes sparkled with a fierce anger. "Don't try to talk me out of this. If you won't take her, then I'll put her up for adoption, I swear it. Either way, I'm not taking her – _it­ – _back to Sunnydale with me. I can't."

The baby, as if sensing her mother's distress, whimpered softly in her sleep.

Angel clutched his newborn daughter to his chest, rocking her protectively, smiling slightly as she curled into his chest.

She was his child, probably the only child he would ever have.

He couldn't let her go to strangers.

"I'll take her." He kept his voice low, so as not to wake the baby.

"Good." Buffy lay back on the bed, exhausted.

The birth had taken a lot out of her and the strain of keeping the existence of her child from her mother and her friends had brought her close to breaking point.

Nine months of making up excuses about stomach bugs, of wearing baggy clothes to hide the bump, of lying awake at night, wishing that she could just wake up and find out that it was just a bad dream, and worst of all, having to lie to the people she loved, living in terror that they would see what was happening and confront her, had left dark shadows under her eyes, making her look older than she was.

All she wanted now was to go home and pretend that none of this had happened.

The baby would be alright.

Angel could take care of it and she could get on with her life.

"What should we name her?" Angel asked, stroking the infant's cheek with a gentle finger.

"I don't care!" Buffy exclaimed angrily. "Call it what you like. Just don't tell me its name. I don't want to know."

Angel sighed. "I'll take her back to the nursery." He offered, knowing that he had no hope of persuading Buffy to change her mind, to stay with him and their daughter in Los Angeles. "Then to my place when the doctor says she can go. I'll take good care of her, Buffy, I promise." He paused. "Would you like me to send letters?" He asked gently. "To let you know how she's doing. Maybe some pictures."

"No." Buffy was adamant. "I don't want to know. I just want to forget about it."

"Fine." Angel's response was curt. He tucked the pink blanket around his sleeping daughter, shielding her from a nonexistent draught. "If you change your mind, let me know."

He turned on his heel and strode out of the room.

Buffy waited until he had left before burying her face in her pillow and letting the tears she had been bottling up flow.

Further down the hall, the baby echoed her mother's cries as she was borne away in her father's strong arms.

* * *

**_Two days later._**

His baby in one arm, half a dozen bags of infant paraphernalia in the other, Angel staggered into his suite, tossing his shopping on the bed.

His daughter cooed happily as he unwrapped her blanket, waving her tiny hands in the air and burbling at him.

Angel sat down on the bed, his baby, still unnamed, in his arms.

He was going to have to do a lot of work redecorating his place to house a child.

He had cherished a hope that Buffy would change her mind and that the three of them would stay together, enjoying some semblance of normality but the blonde Slayer had been adamant in her refusal to play a part in their child's life.

He sighed, allowing the baby to grip his finger.

"I guess it's just you and me now."

TBC.

_Should I continue with this? Be warned that the next chapter will have a significant time jump._


	2. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **Since my name is not Joss Whedon, 'Buffy: The Vampire Slayer', 'Angel' and all the characters associated with both shows belong to someone who isn't me. I also don't own the storyline - that's taken from Elisabeth's 'The Other Woman' Challenge (details below), posted on the Chocolate Covered Strawberries Challenge Archive.

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**_The Other Woman Challenge._**__

_Buffy, after her union with Angel, became pregnant. After hiding it from everyone, she gives the baby to Angel when he leaves Sunndale. Years later, when she finally thinks it's time to go back for her child. Only, when she does go back to LA, she witnesses something, her child calling someone else "Mom"._

_**Requirements:**_

_-Buffy's feelings about seeing this._

_**Options:**_

_-The other woman can be anyone: Faith, Cordy, Fred, Nina, other.  
-The child can be almost any age  
-The child can be male or female._

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**__**

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**Chapter 1.__**

**_Los Angeles, Four years later._**

"Come on, Daddy!" Evelyn Cecilia Angel, the tiny tyrant of the Hyperion Hotel, whined, hands on her hips. "We hafta hurry."

Angel smiled indulgently, obediently picking up the tray and following his daughter out of the kitchen and up the stairs.

Once they reached the door to Angel's suite, Evelyn held up an imperious hand, halting her father's movements. "Ssh." She commanded in a hissed whisper. "I don't wanna wake her yet."

Moving with all the stealth she was capable of, the little girl tiptoed forward, pushing the door open very slowly, making only the faintest creak.

The dark haired woman in the bed heard the movements but she kept her eyes tightly shut, not wanting to disappoint little Evelyn – or Angel for that matter.

Angel, in obedience to the four year old's gestured orders, placed the tray on the bedside locker before standing aside.

"Ready, Evie?" He nodded at his daughter.

The bed creaked slightly under the weight of an energetic child as the little girl launched herself at the still figure under the covers, showering her with kisses.

"Surprise, Mommy." She flung her arms around the neck of the woman she had been calling 'Mommy' since she was an infant, hugging her enthusiastically. "Happy Mother's Day."

Faith returned her little girl's hug, letting Evelyn crawl under the covers with her and kissing the top of her head.

"What a great way to wake up."

"I made you breakfast." Evelyn announced eagerly, sitting up in the bed. She glanced over at Angel. "Daddy helped a _little_." She conceded magnanimously, conveniently ignoring the fact that Angel had done most of the work while she had been more of a hindrance than a help. "Did you like your surprise? Was it five by five?" In the little girl's mind, that was the supreme compliment.

Faith nodded solemnly. "Definitely five by five."

Angel placed the tray in Faith's lap and stood back, surveying his two favourite girls with a semi-goofy smile of his face, enjoying the sight of the two of them together, listening to Evelyn chatter as she shamelessly helped herself to Faith's breakfast.

Anyone who saw the two together would have sworn that they were related by blood for, while Evelyn had Angel's colouring and Buffy's features, her expressions and mannerisms were Faith's.

Faith had shown up at the hotel when Evelyn was just a few days short of five months, desperately seeking his aid, having lost everything when the Mayor died and she had fled Sunnydale, unable to face the anger of Buffy and the Scooby gang.

Baby Evelyn, normally so isolationist, so slow to learn to accept new people, had fallen in love with Faith instantly, an example that her father was not slow in following.

Since then, the three of them had settled down into a quiet, domestic routine, balancing their family with the demands of Angel's successful business, run with the able assistance of Cordelia, Wesley, Gunn and Fred, who had joined the team at various points along the line.

With Angel's soul anchored by the Powers That Be and all threat of Angelus removed, the little family were free to enjoy their lives without worrying about him getting too happy.

Fred, after her return from Pylea, had lived in the hotel for a few months, proving invaluable as a babysitter whenever Angel and Faith needed some time by themselves, but thanks to the intervention of Evelyn, a little Cupid in the making, she was now living with Wesley and they were to be married in the summer.

It was just the three of them living in the hotel now and, in all honesty, that was the way Angel liked it.

"Come on, Daddy!" Evelyn waved him over, holding out a slice of toast.

Taking the toast from her little hand, Angel pounced on his daughter, tickling her small frame mercilessly, delighting in her high pitched squeals of laughter.

His life was as close to perfect as he had ever imagined it being.

* * *

**_Sunnydale._**

Of all of the days of the year, this was the worst.

Buffy felt her child's absence every moment of her life but on Mother's Day, and her daughter's birthday, the need for her baby was more acute than ever.

She did her best to comfort herself with the thought that the child was in good hands, that Angel would be a great father, that their daughter probably had him wrapped around her little finger already, but she couldn't shake the nagging, aching regret she felt for having left her child.

Once or twice, she considered contacting Angel, asking for news of her baby but she could never bring herself to write the letter, to pick up the phone, to allow her daughter to be anything but a nameless, faceless memory.

_/It's better this way. / _Buffy told herself firmly. _/Angel can take care of her – **it** – it's been too long. I can't just show up now, after all these years. What could I say? It's better for everyone if I just leave it like this. /_

Despite her best intentions, Buffy couldn't keep the tears from her eyes as she imagined her little girl, a tiny dark haired sprite whose face appeared in her dreams every night, growing up, never thinking of her, motherless.

_/It's too late. / _She scolded herself. _/You gave her up. Let it go. Just get on with your life and let her get on with hers. /_

As much as she wished to, she knew that she would never be able to follow this advice.

TBC.


	3. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: **Since my name is not Joss Whedon, 'Buffy: The Vampire Slayer', 'Angel' and all the characters associated with both shows belong to someone who isn't me. I also don't own the storyline - that's taken from Elisabeth's 'The Other Woman' Challenge (details below), posted on the Chocolate Covered Strawberries Challenge Archive.

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**_The Other Woman Challenge._**__

_Buffy, after her union with Angel, became pregnant. After hiding it from everyone, she gives the baby to Angel when he leaves Sunnydale. Years later, when she finally thinks it's time to go back for her child. Only, when she does go back to LA, she witnesses something, her child calling someone else "Mom"._

_**Requirements:**_

_-Buffy's feelings about seeing this._

_**Options:**_

_-The other woman can be anyone: Faith, Cordy, Fred, Nina, other.  
-The child can be almost any age  
-The child can be male or female._**__**

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**Author's Note I: **Deepest apologies for the update delay. I had a bit of writer's block where this story was concerned.

**Author's Note II: **To accommodate the timeline for this story, although Faith went over to the Mayor's side, she was only in a coma for a week, rather than eight months, after which she went to L.A. and Angel and Evie.

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**Chapter 2.**

**_Sunnydale._**

**_The Magic Box, Monday morning, half past eight._**__

"Buffy?" Willow's voice was gentle. "Are you okay?"

"Hmm?" The blonde Slayer looked up at her friend. "Sorry. I was a little zoned."

"Like you have been all week." Willow observed sympathetically. "It's harder at this time of year, isn't it? Around Mother's Day."

"I guess." Buffy rested her chin in her cupped hand. "It's been more than two years and it still feels like Mom hasn't been gone that long."

"I don't mean Joyce." Willow continued, still in the same gentle tone. "I mean your baby. Come on, Buffy." She gave her best friend an exasperated half-smile. "I'm not blind, you know. My best friend starts wearing baggy clothes and goes around looking like someone has killed her puppy, then disappears to L.A. for a couple of weeks and comes back a lot thinner than when she left. So what was it?" Her voice was low. "Do you know if it was a boy or a girl?"

"A girl." Her voice was hoarse.

"What's her name?"

"I don't know." She bit her lip. "I wouldn't let him tell me. I didn't want . . .It would have made it harder."

"Angel?"

"Yeah."

"What happened to her? Did you put her up for adoption?"

"Angel took it . . ._her_." Buffy's voice was soft. "He wanted her so badly. He asked me to stay, but I just couldn't. He wanted to send photos. I wouldn't let him." Her blue eyes were wet with unshed tears. "Do you think I'm horrible?"

"Of course not." Willow reached to take her friend's hand. "You were seventeen and you were scared. It's not your fault. You can't blame yourself for giving her to a father who loved her."

"But it's my fault I never tried to stay in touch. I could have visited. I didn't."

"You still can. It's not too late."

"It's been more than four years." Buffy protested.

"It doesn't matter. You're still her mother. You'll always be her mother."

Buffy smiled wanly. "I guess you're right."

* * *

**_Los Angeles._**

**_Bright Sparks Preschool, the same time._**

/Five years ago, if someone had told me I'd be driving a Jeep to drop my kid off to school, I'd have told them they were insane. /

Faith laughed softly at the thought as she pulled into the parking lot adjoining the preschool Evie attended.

"What's funny, Mommy?"

"Just something silly I was thinking of." Faith grinned down at the little girl in the seat next to her. "You got everything?"

The four year old seemed to give the matter very careful consideration. "I _think _so." She gave Faith her most appealing smile. "I don't know if Daddy remembered to pack my . . ." She trailed off, knowing her mother would guess what she was referring to.

Faith opened the glove compartment and handed her little passenger a gaily wrapped candy bar. "This what you wanted?"

"Yes, thank you."

"Remember the school rules?" It was better to go through them every day rather than risk an incident. Again.

"Uh-huh." Evie kicked her seat happily. "Listen to teacher and do what she says. And no fighting with the other kids."

"That's my girl."

"Mommy?"

"Yeah?"

"What if one of the other kids wants to fight?"

Faith grinned conspiratorially. "Then you kick the other kid's butt."

Evie giggled. "Got it, Mommy."

"Alright then." Faith opened the car door. "You ready?"

"Five by five." Evie confirmed.

Her little girl's hand tucked in hers, Faith led her daughter towards the school, smiling at a woman who commented that Evie was 'the spitting image' of her.

Despite the fact that they were not related by blood, strangers always commented on their likeness, one of colouring and mannerisms rather than of features.

Every time Faith looked at Evie's face, she knew exactly who her little girl's biological mother had been.

Her fellow Slayer, her friend, her rival, her enemy, smiled up at her when Evie did.

* * *

**_The Hyperion Hotel, evening._**

"Come out come out wherever you are."

Evie giggled happily. "Can't catch me." She taunted, fleeing the sound of her mother's voice.

"Wanna bet?"

"Yup."

Doing her best to smother her laughter so as not to make it to easy for Faith, Evie raced across the lobby, crashing into the blonde woman who stood there.

"Hiya." She smiled shyly.

"I hear you." Faith gloated triumphantly, following the little girl into the lobby. "I'm going to catch you." The smile faded from her face. "Hey, B."

TBC.

_Anyone got any requests about what they want to see happen? Please review and let me know what you think and if I should continue._


	4. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: **Since my name is not Joss Whedon, 'Buffy: The Vampire Slayer', 'Angel' and all the characters associated with both shows belong to someone who isn't me. I also don't own the storyline - that's taken from Elisabeth's 'The Other Woman' Challenge (details below), posted on the Chocolate Covered Strawberries Challenge Archive.

_**The Other Woman Challenge.**_

_Buffy, after her union with __Angel__, became pregnant. After hiding it from everyone, she gives the __baby__ to __Angel__ when he leaves Sunnydale. Years later, when she finally thinks it's __time__ to go back for her child. Only, when she does go back to LA, she witnesses something, her child calling someone else "Mom"._

_**Requirements:**_

_-Buffy's feelings about seeing this._

_**Options:**_

_-The other woman can be anyone: Faith, Cordy, Fred, Nina, other.  
-The child can be almost any age  
-The child can be male or female._

**

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**Chapter 3.**

"Are you a client?" Evie scrutinized the new arrival with a quizzical expression. "Aunt Cordy likes the ones with lots and lots of money the bestest." She informed her brightly. She caught the less than happy expression on Buffy's face and smiled sympathetically. "Don't be scared if you're in trouble." Evie said innocently. "My Daddy will make it all better. It's what he does."

Faith longed to give into her impulse to snatch her child away from the blonde Slayer, against whom she had always felt she was a poor relation.

Buffy glared at her with utter contempt in her eyes.

"Baby, will you tell Daddy that I need to talk to him." For her little girl's sake Faith kept her voice even.

"Sure, Mommy."

"And why don't you see if you can persuade Uncle Wes and Aunt Fred to take you out for ice cream." She added, knowing perfectly well that neither of them would be able to refuse one of the four year old's requests.

Evie beamed, her eyes lighting up. "Wicked!" She sped off before her mother could change her mind.

Buffy scowled at Faith, her eyes darkening with anger. "What do you thi . . ."

"No." Faith's voice was fierce as she interrupted the other woman. "Not now, B. We're not doing this while she's in the building, when she can hear us. It can wait."

"I was told that my presence was required." Angel's voice was lighter than Buffy had ever heard it. Not noticing Buffy's presence, he moved over to faith and kissed her gently. "You know, if we don't cut down on the ice cream, she's going to be toothless by the time she's ten."

"Angel," Faith's voice was soft as she nodded in Buffy's direction. "Is Evie gone?"

"Evie?"

"Evelyn." Angel elaborated for Buffy's benefit. He touched Faith's shoulder gently. "Wes and Fred took her out for ice cream. I think she wants to talk them into a movie as well." A familiar scowl settled on his features as he turned towards his former lover. "What do you want, Buffy?"

"What's she doing here?" Buffy pointed an accusing finger in Faith's direction.

"Faith lives here." Angel's voice was cold. "And has done so for the past four years, which you would know if you'd ever bothered to visit, or even call once in a while."

"How can you let her near my child?" Buffy demanded furiously. "She's a killer!"

Faith recoiled as if she had been stabbed.

Angel's expression darkened.

"Call her that again and I'll throw you out of this hotel. As for Evie being your child, you stopped being her mother when you abandoned her."

"I was scared." Buffy protested, choking back the tears that threatened to fall.

"So was I." Angel's voice was like ice. "I was left alone with a tiny baby and I had no idea how to take care of her and I couldn't even contact her mother because she wanted nothing to do with 'it'. I was terrified. You never expressed any interest in how we were then. Don't come back here after four and a half years and pretend to be a mother. You gave up that right."

"Angel, please." The blonde Slayer appealed. "I don't want to take her away from you, I just want to know her."

Angel had never been able to resist someone in distress and the thought that his adored daughter, twenty years down the line, would resent his preventing her from getting to know her birth mother, frightened him.

"Alright." He nodded gruffly. "I'll introduce you to her."

_/ **I. **/ _Faith thought with a pang. _/It's not **we **anymore. Not now that B's back. /_

She had never loved anyone the way she did Evie. She had thought of her as her own from the moment Angel had placed her in his arms, trusting her, despite her past, with his precious child.

Evie had snuggled into her arms, playing with her hair and chuckling, not caring that hers were hands that had killed a man.

She had known, holding the small, soft body of the gurgling baby girl in her arms, innocent and fragile, yet so resilient, that if anyone threatened this little girl, she was more than capable of killing them.

She had been 'Mommy' for four years. Evie had been her child. They had been a family. They had been happy.

The thought that that was going to change made her physically sick.

_/I was just subbing. / _She thought bitterly. _/Now that B's back, they have their family again. /_

TBC.

_Author's Note: I know it's a bit shorter than the other chapters. I wanted to get Faith's perspective on the situation, how she was feeling. Anyone have any idea what I should class this story as genre wise._


	5. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: **Since my name is not Joss Whedon, 'Buffy: The Vampire Slayer', 'Angel' and all the characters associated with both shows belong to someone who isn't me. I also don't own the storyline - that's taken from Elisabeth's 'The Other Woman' Challenge (details below), posted on the Chocolate Covered Strawberries Challenge Archive.

_**The Other Woman Challenge.**_

_Buffy, after her union with __Angel__, became pregnant. After hiding it from everyone, she gives the __baby__ to __Angel__ when he leaves Sunnydale. Years later, when she finally thinks it's __time__ to go back for her child. Only, when she does go back to LA, she witnesses something, her child calling someone else "Mom"._

_**Requirements:**_

_-Buffy's feelings about seeing this._

_**Options:**_

_-The other woman can be anyone: Faith, Cordy, Fred, Nina, other.  
-The child can be almost any age  
-The child can be male or female._

**Author's Note:** To angelsdarla13 and shadow eyes – Don't worry, I have no intention whatsoever of making this story Angel/Buffy.

**

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**Chapter 4.**

_**That night.**_

As a rule, Angel's snoring never bothered her but tonight Faith wanted to stuff a sock in his mouth, just for some peace and quiet.

She couldn't understand how someone who didn't breathe was able to snore so loudly, or how a supposedly nocturnal, predatory creature slept so deeply.

Buffy had been quartered in one of the many empty suites in the hotel but, as far as Faith was concerned, she might as well have been in the bed with him, such was the wedge she had created between herself and Angel.

Thankfully, Evie hadn't questioned the presence of the blonde Slayer yet, but Faith knew that her innately curious little girl could sense something amiss and wouldn't be happy until she knew what that was.

Angel had said that Buffy could stay a few days to get to know the four and a half year old but their agreement as to how to proceed hadn't been hammered out, or if they had, they hadn't thought to fill her in on the details.

How much would they tell Evie? Would Buffy be able to take her out alone? What was Evie to call her? These things needed to be decided.

How would Evie feel once she knew the truth?

That was Faith's biggest worry.

Would she be hurt that Buffy had abandoned her as a baby, never tried to get in tough until now? Would she blame herself for it? Would she be angry that Faith had allowed her to believe that she was her mother? Would blood prove thicker than water?

Faith didn't know how she'd cope if Evie chose Buffy over her.

_/Not that she'd be the first. /_

"Mommy?" The little girl padded into the room barefoot, her shoulder length dark curls slightly matted.

"Evie?" Faith switched on the bedside lamp. "What's wrong, baby?"

"I had a bad dream." She yawned, rubbing the sleep sand from her eyes. "Can I sleep with you and Daddy?"

"Of course." Faith lifted the quilt, allowing the child to climb in and snuggle close to her before tucking the covers around them both. "Are you warm enough."

"Yes, thank you." Evie's had already started to drift off. "Night, Mommy. I love you."

"I love you too." Faith switched off the light and kissed the top of her daughter's head. "More than anything."

_/B may have given birth to you, but that only makes her a mother. I'm 'Mommy'. That's what really matters. / _She hugged her little girl close, cherishing the feeling of Evie's warm weight in her arms. /_You're my daughter now. Nobody is ever going to take you away from me. I won't let them. /_

* * *

_**The next morning.**_

"Faith? Are you okay?"

The dark haired Slayer scowled unhappily. "What do you think?"

Angel sighed. "I'm sorry about all this. I never thought that Buffy would show up here, after all this time."

"She left, so you settled for me." Faith commented acidly.

"Is that what you think?" Angel stared at her in astonishment.

"It's true isn't it?" Faith felt tears pricking the back of her eyelids and blinked them back furiously. "I'm a substitute, her replacement. I've always been her replacement."

"You've never been that to me." Angel spoke quietly. "I love you. I've loved you since the first time I saw you with Evie. I didn't think that Buffy would ever return and to be honest, I didn't really want her to, not when we've been getting on so well alone, but now that she's here, I want Evie to get to know her. Twenty years from now, I don't want our daughter regretting that she never met her biological mother, but having Buffy here doesn't make Evie any less your daughter. She loves you and you love her. That's what's important."

"I know." Faith gave him a small smile. "I just hope that Evie knows that too."

"She does." Angel reassured in a gentle tone. "She's a smart kid." He gave her a lopsided smile. "She takes after you."

"Mommy!" Evie's voice called from upstairs in her room. "I can't find my backpack."

Angel squeezed Faith's shoulder gently. "That's your cue."

She leaned over to kiss his cheek. "Thank you."

TBC.

_Author's Note: Next up (whenever I get the chapter written) – Evie meets Buffy._


	6. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: **Since my name is not Joss Whedon, 'Buffy: The Vampire Slayer', 'Angel' and all the characters associated with both shows belong to someone who isn't me. I also don't own the storyline - that's taken from Elisabeth's 'The Other Woman' Challenge (details below), posted on the Chocolate Covered Strawberries Challenge Archive.

_**The Other Woman Challenge.**_

_Buffy, after her union with __Angel__, became pregnant. After hiding it from everyone, she gives the __baby__ to __Angel__ when he leaves Sunnydale. Years later, when she finally thinks it's __time__ to go back for her child. Only, when she does go back to LA, she witnesses something, her child calling someone else "Mom".  
_

_**Requirements:**  
_

_-Buffy's feelings about seeing this._

_**Options:**  
_

_-The other woman can be anyone: Faith, Cordy, Fred, Nina, other.  
-The child can be almost any age  
-The child can be male or female._

**Author's Note: **To IceQueenK8 – the challenge requirements mean that Buffy has to be replaced in both Angel and the child's life. Faith seemed like the candidate she would resent most.

* * *

**Chapter 5.**

_**The next afternoon.**_

"Are you a friend of my parents?"

Buffy ducked out of the way of the swing to avoid being kicked in the face by an enthusiastically swinging Evie.

"I'm a friend of your dad's."

"Not Mommy?" Evie asked curiously. "Why don't you like my Mommy?"

"It's not that B doesn't like me, baby." Faith lied, coming up with three sodas. "It's just that she doesn't know me very well, not as well as she knows Daddy."

"Oh." Evie dug her heel into the ground to stop the swing. "Is that why you're coming to the park with us today? So that you can get to know Mommy?"

"And you." Buffy said gently. "I've wanted to meet you for a long time."

"Okay." Evie, well accustomed to being adored, accepted Buffy's words. "Can we go get some burgers and fries for lunch, Mommy?" she asked coaxingly. "Since B's here."

Buffy couldn't keep from frowning at the little girl's use of Faith's nickname for her, a nickname that had always irritated her.

"I think that could be arranged." Faith smiled indulgently, taking her daughter's hand.

"Come on, B." Evie reached out for the blonde Slayer with her free hand. "It's lunchtime."

The blonde Slayer took the little girl's hand in hers, and shot her dark haired counterpart a triumphant look.

_/Blood will out. Evie mightn't know that I'm her mother yet, but she can sense it. /_

* * *

"Can I have another ice cream cone?"

"No." Buffy responded without thinking. "You've already had two."

"Mommy?" Evie wheedled, frowning reprovingly at Buffy for coming between her and what she wanted.

"A small one." Faith conceded, angry with the other woman for usurping her role. She fished in her wallet for some money, which Evie eagerly accepted, tearing off to the ice cream truck before her mother could change her mind.

"You're spoiling her rotten." Buffy complained, as soon as the little girl was out of earshot. "She's going to grow up a brat." She glared at Faith. "Although with you around, that's probably inevitable."

"How I raise Evie is none of your damn business, B." Faith said, growing angry in her turn. "You walked out on her, remember? You don't get to have a say in her life any more."

"She is still my daughter." Buffy argued, her voice growing louder. "You can play happy families with Angel for as long as you like, you can make her call you 'Mommy', but it doesn't make her any less my daughter."

"Until yesterday, you didn't even know her name." Faith glanced over at Evie, who was giving the ice cream man instructions about the precise way she liked her cone, before heading over to the sandpit, where some of her friends were playing. She lowered her voice, not wanting Evie to hear them scrapping. "You gave up your right to be a mother when you abandoned Evie."

"It's not like you wear a halo, is it Faith?" Buffy sneered at the other Slayer. "Does Evie know that you killed a man? Does she know that you betrayed us? Does she know that you sided with a crazy freak who wanted to make himself a demon? Does she know who her 'Mommy' really is?"

"I've told her that I did some bad things when I was younger." Faith admitted softly. "But she knows how much I love her now."

"And how long will that last?" Buffy challenged, keeping her voice low so as not to attract any more unwanted attention than they already had. "How long before you get bored of playing mother to my child and walk out on her?"

"No, B, that's your job." Faith retorted. "I'm not going anywhere."

"Of course not." Buffy remarked bitterly. "Why would you when you've managed to do what you've always wanted – to push me out of the lives of the people I love. Everything that was mine, you took."

"Last time I checked, Evie wasn't an object. You don't drop a kid to one side and then come back when it suits you, thinking that you can pick up where you left off. You abandoned Evie, how do you think she would feel if she knew that?"

"And you're going to tell her, aren't you? You're going to make absolutely sure that Evie hates me."

"I'm not going to tell her." Faith's voice was soft. "It would hurt her to know that, and that's something that I will never do. You've hurt her enough for one lifetime."

Too angry to think clearly, Buffy slapped her across the face as hard as she could.

"Hey!" Evie, horrified by the sound of the blow, dropped her ice cream in the sand and dashed to her mother's side. "Don't hit my Mommy!"

"Evie, you don't understand, I . . ." Buffy reached out for the little girl.

"Go away!" Evie recoiled from Buffy's outstretched hand. "You hurt my Mommy. I don't like you!"

"Evie, sweetie," Faith took her daughter's hand wanting to calm her down. "It's alright, baby, really it is. B and I were just having an argument about grown up stuff, that's all."

"It's not." Evie squared her jaw in characteristic stubbornness. "She hit you. I hate her!"

Buffy flinched as though the little girl had struck her.

_/Faith didn't even have to try to push my daughter away from me this time. / _She thought sadly. _/But she still managed it. /_

Her eyes were filled with bitterness as she looked up at the dark haired Slayer.

"Congratulations."

_/You've done it again. /_

TBC.

_Author's Note: I'm afraid it'll probably be a while before my next update. I've got to go on a school trip for two weeks, and then it's back to university. I'll update as soon as I can, in the mean time, please review._


	7. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: **Since my name is not Joss Whedon, 'Buffy: The Vampire Slayer', 'Angel' and all the characters associated with both shows belong to someone who isn't me. I also don't own the storyline - that's taken from Elisabeth's 'The Other Woman' Challenge (details below), posted on the Chocolate Covered Strawberries Challenge Archive.

_**The Other Woman Challenge.**_

_Buffy, after her union with Angel, became pregnant. After hiding it from everyone, she gives the baby to Angel when he leaves Sunnydale. Years later, when she finally thinks it's time to go back for her child. Only, when she does go back to LA, she witnesses something, her child calling someone else "Mom"._

_**Requirements:**_

_-Buffy's feelings about seeing this._

_**Options:**_

_-The other woman can be anyone: Faith, Cordy, Fred, Nina, other.   
-The child can be almost any age   
-The child can be male or female._

**Author's Note: **Deepest apologies for the lateness of this update. I've been having a serious case of writer's block. I'd like to thankzooboig and BabyBella, whose reviews pushed me to write this chapter.

* * *

**Chapter 6**

"I hate her!"

"Evelyn Cecilia Angel!" Lorne's voice was uncharacterisically stern. "I don't want to ever hear you saying anything like that again."

"But it's true." Evie stomped her foot for emphasis. "I hate her. She's nasty."

"What happened?"

"She hit Mommy. She was yelling at Mommy and then she hit her." The four year old scowled. "Nobody's allowed to hit my Mommy."

"There are two sides to every argument, babydoll." Lorne tried to calm her down, getting a poisonous glare for his pains. "I'm not saying that it was okay for Buffy to hit your mom, it was very wrong of her, but it takes two to tango." He crouched down so that his face was level with hers. "I'm sure she's sorry."

"B didn't say that she was sorry." Evie pointed out uncompromisingly. "I think she needs a time out to think about what she did." Her tone was perfectly serious. "And no dessert."

With great difficulty, Lorne managed to suppress a chuckle.

"Buffy mightn't get along with your mom, sweetie, but she really likes you."

"How? She doesn't know me yet." The little girl pointed out practically.

"But she'd like to get to know you." The green demon wheedled. "Trust me. Can't you give her a chance?"

"No. I don't like people who hurt Mommy."

"Evie, Buffy and your mom have some issues, but it's between them and they're the ones who have to work them out."

If the obstinate scowl on Evie's face was any indication, she was far from convinced.

Lorne sighed.

A demon's work was never done.

* * *

"Are you happy now?" Buffy's voice was bitter as she addressed the other Slayer. "She hates me."

"She's confused." Angel responded curtly, leaping to Faith's defense. "And I can't say I blame her."

"This isn't easy for any of us." Faith pointed out.

"Oh, I think it's working out very well for you." Buffy interjected. "You've got what you wanted. My daughter loves you and hates me. But no matter what you do, I am still her mother."

"And I'm the one she's been calling 'Mommy' since she could say the word."

"And what happens when 'Mommy' decides she's bored of playing Happy Families with my child and takes off?"

"I already told you that I'm not going anywhere."

"And I'm supposed to trust that?"

"I do." Angel's voice was soft.

"B, do you know what it's like to hate your mother?" Faith asked quietly. "I mean really hate her. Do you know what it's like to be afraid of your mother? Do you know what it's like to lie awake praying that she will just go away?" Her voice cracked slightly and she leaned into Angel's comforting embrace. "Do you know what it's like to have your mother kill herself, and to be _glad _she's gone?"

Buffy shook her head slowly.

"Then you can't possibly understand why I know that I would never do anything that would hurt Evie."

'And what am I supposed to do?" Buffy demanded. "Forget about her?"

"You did once." Angel pointed out cruelly.

"Hey!" Lorne's musical voice was hard as he called out over the argument. "I think we've had all the Jerry Springer war we can take." He gestured towards the couch. "Sit."

"Lorne, this isn't your concern." Angel told his friend angrily.

"If you three had managed to at least pretend to be civil, I would agree, but that seems to be beyond you. Now sit down." He enunciated each word slowly.

Sensing that he meant business, they obeyed. Angel and Faith sat together on one end of the couch, with Buffy taking a place at the other end, separated from the other two.

"Now," The green demon's tone was conversational. "There is some serious anger and pain in this room. You" He nodded towards Angel. "Are still ticked off that Buffy walked out on you, leaving you holding the baby and now that she's back, you're angry because she's upsetting the family you, Faith and Evie have built. You" He met Buffy's eyes. "Are regretting giving up your daughter and you are nearly as angry with Faith for taking on the role of mother as you are with yourself for giving it up and you," His expression softened ever so slightly as he looked across at the dark haired young woman. "Are terrified that you are going to lose the most important person in your life. That's not going to happen, princess." He told her gently, before hardening his expression. "Well guess what, kids, none of this matters. Your feelings aren't the issue here. There's only one person involved who counts in this mess."

"Evie." Buffy spoke softly.

"Bingo." Lorne glared at the three of them. "And if you three can't put your own disputes aside and concentrate on what she needs, then none of you are fit to be her parents."

The worst thing about Lorne, Angel reflected silently, was that he had an annoying tendency to be right about these things.

TBC.


	8. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer:** Since my name is not Joss Whedon, 'Buffy: The Vampire Slayer', 'Angel' and all the characters associated with both shows belong to someone who isn't me. I also don't own the storyline - that's taken from Elisabeth's 'The Other Woman' Challenge (details below), posted on the Chocolate Covered Strawberries Challenge Archive.

**_The Other Woman Challenge._**

_Buffy, after her union with Angel, became pregnant. After hiding it from everyone, she gives the baby to Angel when he leaves Sunnydale. Years later, when she finally thinks it's time to go back for her child. Only, when she does go back to LA, she witnesses something, her child calling someone else "Mom"._

**_Requirements:_**

_-Buffy's feelings about seeing this._

**_Options:_**

_-The other woman can be anyone: Faith, Cordy, Fred, Nina, other.  
-The child can be almost any age -The child can be male or female._

**Author's Note: **I know it's been absolutely forever since I updated, but I've finally managed to finish this story. A big thank you to everyone who reviewed it.

* * *

**Chapter 7**

_**Evening.**_

"Evie?" Buffy knocked on the little girl's door before hovering on the threshold, unsure of her next move. "Can I come in?"

"I don't want to talk to you." The four year old set her jaw stubbornly.

"Please?"

"No!" Evie scowled at her. "I'm not talking to you 'cause you hit my Mommy and didn't say that you were sorry."

"She did." Faith spoke up from behind the other Slayer. "Downstairs." She glanced at Buffy, who seemed unsure whether or not she should resent the other woman's interference and her white lie. "And I forgave her."

"That's alright, then." Evie said, mollified somewhat. "So long as you don't do it again."

"I won't." Buffy would have promised anything to get her child to talk to her.

"Good." The four year old beamed at them both, happy to have everything sorted to her satisfaction. "Now we're all friends."

"I'll be downstairs if you need me." Despite Lorne's assurances, Faith was reluctant to leave Buffy and her daughter alone and it took a great effort on her part to be able to walk out of the room.

Buffy took a seat on the bed next to Evie, a wary expression on her face. "What are you up to?"

"Drawing." Evie proudly displayed her sketch pad. "This is me and Daddy and Mommy." She pointed towards a colourful trio, the figure in the middle much smaller than the other two before gesturing towards another two figures, dressed as a bride and groom. "And this is Uncle Wes and Aunt Fred like they'll be on their wedding, and these are Uncle Gunn and Uncle Lorne."

"These are really good." Buffy felt a surge of maternal pride.

Although Evelyn Cecilia Angel was not an infant da Vinci by any means, her pictures were bright, colourful and clearly the work of a happy child.

_/I guess Faith hasn't done that bad a job. / _She conceded grudgingly.

"Want me to draw a picture of you?" The little girl was eager for a new subject.

"Please."

"Hold still, then." Evie caught Buffy's chin in her small hand, tilting it until she decided on a pleasing angle.

"I'd like us to be friends, Evie."

"Of course we are." Now that Buffy had been forgiven for the crime of slapping her mother, the four year old was more than willing to make friends. She began on the hair, making full use of the yellow crayon.

"Did your Daddy teach you how to draw?"

"He showed me a bit, but he always draws dark pictures with no colour. Those are boring. Mommy says she likes mine 'cause they're prettier."

"Do you like Faith . . .Mommy?" Seeing Evie's slightly confused look, she gave Faith the name she so resented her using. She hadn't wanted to talk about Faith but, despite everyone's assurances to the contrary, she couldn't help fearing that the other Slayer was somehow hurting or neglecting the little girl.

"Of course I love Mommy." Evie couldn't understand why she was being asked this question. "She's the bestest."

_/I should never have let you go. /_

Try as she might, Buffy couldn't keep a tear from falling.

"Don't cry." Tender hearted little Evie dropped her sketch pad and hugged her, patting her back soothingly and kissing her cheek. "There, all better."

All Buffy wanted to do was to scoop the little girl up into her arms and run away with her, but she couldn't, she _wouldn't_ do that.

She had hurt her daughter once by abandoning her, she wasn't going to hurt her a second time by taking her away from her home and family, even if it was a family of which she herself was not a part.

_/I guess this is what Lorne meant when he said that we all had to put Evie first. / _Buffy reflected, returning the little girl's hug. _/And the best thing I can do for her is to leave her where she is. /_

"Will you come and visit us again? You can come to Aunt Fred and Uncle Wes's wedding if you like." Evie shamelessly usurped the bride and groom-to-be's privilege of issuing invitations.

"I'd love to visit." Buffy managed a smile. "If it's alright with your Daddy. . ." She paused, swallowing. "And your Mommy."

* * *

"Are you okay?" Angel's voice was soft as he asked the question.

"I'll live." Faith leaned across to kiss him. "This was going to happen sooner or later, and when she's older, Evie'll be glad that she got to know B. You know," She said thoughtfully, looking far older than her years. "In a way, our daughter is very lucky. Most kids only have two parents to love them - some don't even have that. Evie has lots of people to adore her."

"She has the best mother she could ever ask for."

"And the best father. . .What are you doing?"

Angel had dropped to one knee and was looking up at her with a hopeful, boyish smile.

"Will you marry me?"

Grinning, Faith knelt down next to him, pulling him forward for a kiss.

"Is that a yes, then?"

"What do you think?"

* * *

****

**_Two days later._**

**_The Magic Box._**

Knowing that none of the others were aware of the true reason for Buffy's trip to L.A., Willow managed to restrain herself from dragging her friend aside and asking what had happened as soon as Buffy set foot in the magic shop but, after approximately five minutes her curiousity got the better of her and, making an excuse about having something she wanted to show her, pulled her into the training area set up in the back room.

"Well?" She prompted, studying her friend's face. "How did it go?"

Buffy gave her a small smile. "Evie. Her name is Evie."

THE END


End file.
